When
you make reference to someone else's idea in your writing, either by paraphrasing
or quoting them directly, you must cite the source to

allow readers to know which resources you used in your writing,

enable them to look up your references,

give credit to the person who originated the idea, and

demonstrate the creditability of your thoughts.

Here
are some basic guidelines for referring to the works of others in your
text.

Parenthetical
Citations Within Your Writing and Works Cited List

Modern
Language Association (MLA) format follows the author-page method of citation.
This means

the
author's name (or the title of the work) and the page (or paragraph)
number of the work must appear in the body of your writing in a parenthetical
citation (usually at the end of the sentence), and

a
complete reference or full citation for the source must be included
in the Works Cited list at the end of your writing.

The
author's name may appear either in the sentence itself or in parentheses
following the quotation or paraphrase, but the page number(s) should always
appear in the parentheses, not in the text of your sentence.

The
author's name (or the title of the work) and the page (or paragraph) number
of the work must appear in the body of your writing in a parenthetical
citation (usually at the end of the sentence).

Examples:

Romantic poetry is characterized by the "spontaneous overflow
of powerful feelings" (Wordsworth 263).

Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry was marked by a "spontaneous
overflow of powerful feelings" (263).

Two
works by the same author

If
you cite more than one work by a particular author, include a shortened
title for the particular work from which you are quoting to distinguish
it from the other works by that same person.

Example:

Lightenor has argued that computers are not useful tools for small
children ("Too Soon" 38), though he has acknowledged that
early exposure to computer games does lead to better small motor skill
development in a child's second and third year ("Hand-Eye Development"
17).

Two
authors with the same last name

Sometimes
more information is necessary to identify the source from which a quotation
is taken. For instance, if two or more authors have the same last name,
provide both authors' first initials (or even her or his full name if
different authors share initials) in your citation.

Example:

Although some medical ethicists claim that cloning will lead to designer
children (R. Miller 12), others note that the advantages for medical
research outweigh this consideration (A. Miller 46).

Book
or article with no author named

For
parenthetical citations of sources with no author named, use a shortened
version of the title instead of an author's name. Use quotation marks
and underlining as appropriate. For example , parenthetical citations
of the following sources would appear as follows: (Encyclopedia
235) and ("Cigarette" A17).

When
you directly quote the works of others in your paper, you will format
quotations differently depending on whether they are long or short quotations.

Short
Quotations

To
indicate short quotations (fewer than four typed lines of prose or three
lines of verse) in your text, enclose the quotation within double quotation
marks and incorporate it into your text. Provide the author and specific
page citation (in the case of verse, provide line numbers) in the text,
and include a complete reference in the works-cited list. Punctuation
marks such as periods, commas, and semicolons should appear after
the parenthetical citation. Question marks and exclamation points should
appear within the quotation marks if they are a part of the quoted passage
but after the parenthetical citation if they are a part of your text.

According
to Foulkes's study, dreams may express "profound aspects of personality"
(184).

Is
it possible that dreams may express "profound aspects of personality"
(Foulkes 184)?

Long
Quotations

Place
quotations longer than four typed lines in a free-standing block of typewritten
lines, and omit quotation marks. Start the quotation on a new line, indented
one inch from the left margin. Your parenthetical citation should come
after the closing punctuation mark. When quoting verse, maintain original
line breaks.

Examples:

Nelly
Dean treats Heathcliff poorly and dehumanizes him throughout her narration:

They
entirely refused to have it in bed with them, or even in their room,
and I had no more sense, so, I put it on the landing of the stairs,
hoping it would be gone on the morrow. By chance, or else attracted
by hearing his voice, it crept to Mr. Earnshaw's door, and there
he found it on quitting his chamber. Inquiries were made as to how
it got there; I was obliged to confess, and in recompense for my
cowardice and inhumanity was sent out of the house. (Brontė 78)

In
her poem "Sources," Adrienne Rich explores the roles of
women in shaping their world:

The
faithful drudging child

the
child at the oak desk whose penmanship,

hard
work, style will win her prizes

becomes
the woman with a mission, not to win prizes

but
to change the laws of history. (23)

Adding
or Omitting Words In Quotations

If
you add a word or words in a quotation, you should put brackets around
the words to indicate that they are not part of the original text.

Example:
Jan Harold Brunvand, in an essay on urban legends, states: "some
individuals [who retell urban legends] make a point of learning every
rumor or tale" (78).

If
you omit a word or words from a quotation, you should indicate the deleted
word or word by using ellipsis marks (i.e., 3 periods) surrounded by brackets.

Example:
In an essay on urban legends, Jan Harold Brunvand notes that "some
individuals make a point of learning every recent rumor or tale [...]
and in a short time a lively exchange of details occurs" (78).

If
there are ellipsis marks in the quoted author's work, do not put brackets
around them; only use brackets around ellipsis marks to distinguish them
from ellipsis marks in the quoted author's work.

Indirect
quotation

Sometimes
you may have to use an indirect quotation. An indirect quotation is a
quotation that you found in another source that was quoting from the original.
For such indirect quotations, use "qtd. in" to indicate the
source.

Example:
Ravitch argues that high schools are pressured to act as "social
service centers, and they don't do that well" (qtd. in Weisman
259).

The
works cited list should appear at the end of your writing. The list provides
the information necessary for a reader to locate any sources you cite.
Each source you cite in the essay must appear in your works-cited list;
likewise, each entry in the works-cited list must be cited in your text.
Here are some guidelines for preparing your works cited list.

List
Format

Begin your works cited list on a separate page from the text of the
essay under the label Works Cited (with no quotation marks, underlining,
etc.), which should be centered at the top of the page.

Make the first line of each entry in your list flush left with the
margin. Subsequent lines in each entry should be indented one-half
inch. This is known as a hanging indent.

My thoughts: Single space within an entry; double-space between
entries.

Keep in mind that underlining and italics are equivalent;
you should select one or the other to use throughout your essay.

Alphabetize the list of works cited by the first word in each entry
(usually the author's last name),

Basic
Rules for Citations

Authors' names are inverted (last name first); if a work has more
than one author, invert only the first author's name, follow it with
a comma, then continue listing the rest of the authors without inverting
their names.

If you have cited more than one work by a particular author, order
them alphabetically by title, and use three hyphens in place of the
author's name for every entry after the first.

When an author appears both as the sole author of a text and as the
first author of a group, list solo-author entries first.

If no author is given for a particular work, alphabetize by the title
of the piece and use a shortened version of the title for parenthetical
citations.

October 31, 2005he titles of articles, books, etc. This rule
does not apply to articles, short prepositions, or conjunctions unless
one is the first word of the title or subtitle.

Use quotation marks around the titles of articles in journals, magazines,
and newspapers. Also use quotation marks for the titles of short stories,
book chapters, poems, and songs.

List page numbers efficiently, when needed. If you refer to a journal
article that appeared on pages 225 through 250, list the page numbers
on your Works Cited page as 225-50.

If you're citing an article or a publication that was originally issued
in print form but that you retrieved from an online database, you
should provide enough information so that the reader can locate the
article either in its original print form or retrieve it from the
online database (if they have access).

If
there are more than three authors, you may list only the first author
followed by the phrase et al. or et al. (the abbreviation
for the Latin phrase "and others") in place of the other authors'
names, or you may list all the authors in the order in which their names
appear on the title page.

Book
with a corporate author, example

American
Allergy Association. Allergies in Children. New York: Random,
1998.

Recall
-- for parenthetical citations of sources with no author named,
use a shortened version of the title instead of an author's name. Use
quotation marks and underlining as appropriate. For example, parenthetical
citations of the two sources above would appear as follows: (Encyclopedia
235) and ("Cigarette" A17).

Government
publication, example

United
States Dept. of Health and Human Services. Healthy People 2010: Understanding
and Improving Health. Washington: GPO, 2000.

General
format: Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Source
Day Month Year: pages.

When
citing the date, list day before month; use a three-letter abbreviation
of the month (e.g. Jan., Mar., Aug.). If there is more than one edition
available for that date (as in an early and late edition of a newspaper),
identify the edition following the date (e.g. 17 May 1987, late ed.).

General
format: Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Journal
Vol (Year): pages.

"Vol"
indicates the volume number of the journal. If the journal uses continuous
pagination throughout a particular volume, only volume and year are needed,
e.g. Modern Fiction Studies 40 (1998): 251-81. If each issue of
the journal begins on page 1, however, you must also provide the issue
number following the volume, e.g. Mosaic 19.3 (1986): 33-49.

If
no author is given for a web page or electronic source, start with and
alphabetize by the title of the piece and use a shortened version of the
title for parenthetical citations.

A
web site

General
format: Author(s). Name of Page. Date of Posting/Revision. Name of
institution/organization affiliated with the site. Date of Access <electronic
address>.

It
is necessary to list your date of access because web postings are often
updated, and information available at one date may no longer be available
later. Be sure to include the complete address for the site. Also, note
the use of angled brackets around the electronic address; MLA requires
them for clarity.

It
is necessary to list your date of access because web postings are often
updated, and information available at one date may no longer be available
later. Be sure to include the complete address for the site.
Also, note the use of angled brackets around the electronic address;
MLA requires them for clarity.

General
format: Author(s)."Article Title." Name of web site.
Date of posting/revision. Name of institution/organization affiliated
with site. Date of access <electronic address>.

Some
electronic journals and magazines provide paragraph or page numbers; include
them if available. This format is also appropriate to online magazines;
as with a print version, you should provide a complete publication date
rather than volume and issue number.

General
format: Author. "Title of the message (if any)" E-mail
to person's name. Date of the message.

This
same format may be used for personal interviews or personal letters. These
do not have titles, and the description should be appropriate. Instead
of "Email to John Smith," you would have "Personal interview."

For
non-print sources, such as films, TV series, pictures, or other media,
or electronic sources with no author, include the name that begins the
entry in the Works Cited page.

Example:
An anonymous Wordsworth critic once argued that his poems were
too emotional ("Wordsworth Is A Loser" 100).

Basic
"Works Cited" Formats for Article or Publication Retrieved from an Electronic
Database(top of page)

If
you're citing an article or a publication that was originally issued in
print form but that you retrieved from an online database that your library
subscribes to, you should provide enough information so that the reader
can locate the article either in its original print form or retrieve it
from the online database (if they have access).

Provide
the following information in your citation:

Author's name (if not available, use the article title as the first
part of the citation)

Article Title

Publication Name

Publication Date

Page Number/Range

Database Name

Service Name

Name of the library where service was accessed

Name of the town/city where service was accessed

Date of Access

URL of the service (but not the whole URL for the article, since those
are very long and won't be able to be re-used by someone trying to
retrieve the information)

To
cite a lecture or a speech, "give the speaker's name, the title of
the lecture or speech (if known) in quotation marks, the meeting and the
sponsoring organization (if applicable), the location [including place
and city, if available], and the date. If there is no title, use an appropriate
descriptive label (e.g., Lecture, Address, Keynote speech), neither underlined
nor enclosed in quotation marks" (MLA Handbook, 206).

Author(s).
Name of Page. Date of Posting/Revision. Name of institution/organization
affiliated with the site. Date of Access <electronic address>.

It
is necessary to list your date of access because web postings are often
updated, and information available at one date may no longer be available
later. Be sure to include the complete address for the site. Also, note
the use of angled brackets around the electronic address; MLA requires
them for clarity.